:'^^^m0 , j^iiSiSSSI^ 




THE WERN£-.K. 

BIOGPsAPmCAL 

BOOKLETS 



BY.„ 

AI,MA HOLMAN BURTON 



FOR YOUNG 



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RNER SCHOOL BCX)¥. (ViOMVANY 
CHICAGO ?^EW ^^ ■ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



- I ZiSO'^ — 

Chap.....g Copyright Jifl^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



.i 



SO'io 



1898 



THE WERNER BIOGRAPHICAL BOOKLETS 



THE STORY 



OF 



PATRICK HENRY 



FOR YOUNG READERS 



By alma HOLMAN BURTON 




WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



13947 



Copyright, 1898, 
By Werner School Book Company 



EP 1 C 






THE STORY OF PATRICK HENRY. 



I.— Childhood. 



Patrick Henry was born on the 29th of May, 
1736, in Hanover County, Virginia. George Wash- 
ington was born on the 226. of February, 1732, in 
Westmoreland County. 

While one was a baby rocking in his cradle, the 
other was still so small that he played about in 
dresses like a girl. 

Many years later these Virginia boys were great 
friends, and, as we shall see, they became two 
of the most famous men in the history of our 
country. 

The blue-eyed Patrick grew very fast. When 
he was old enough to go about alone, he found 
playmates in the woods. • 

The birds sang to him, the fishes dared him to 

dive into the clear water after them, and the bees 

often droned about him until he fell asleep on the 

grass. 

Patrick's father was a Scotchman from Aber- 

9 



lO THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

deen, and some of his father's people were scholars 
of such renown that they were known throughout 
Europe. ■ 

He told the boy all about these noted ancestors, 
and started a private school to encourage him to 
study to make a great man of himself. 

But Patrick did not care very much for books. 
He liked to guide a canoe down the South Anna 
River, which ran past the little farm where he lived. 
He spent many hours on the green bank watching 
the cork of his fishing rod. He often wandered 
far into the forest to set traps for the game. And 
you can easily guess that his lessons were never 
very well prepared. 

His mother always took him to the Presbyterian 
church to hear Mr. Davies preach, 

Mr. Davies was a wonderful man. He was tall 
and erect. His face was beautiful, and his manners 
were so polished that some one said he seemed like 
the embassador of a great king. 

At church Patrick kept his eyes wide open and 
listened to every word the preacher said. When he 
returned home, his mother would ask him to give 
the text and repeat all of the sermon he could. 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. II 

Patrick loved to imitate the clear, sweet voice 
and graceful gestures of Mr. Davies. His mother 
said she hoped he would make a preacher. 

But his father said he did not like books well 
enough for that. At last he said he believed the 
boy would never be a scholar, and that he was only 
fit for some kind of trade. So he sent him to live 
with a merchant, that he might learn how to buy 
and sell goods. 



II. — The Young Merchant. 

After Patrick had clerked for a year, his father 
bought some tea and coffee and spices, some 
woolen and cotton cloths, and some tin and iron 
ware from a British trader. Then he gave all that 
he had bought to Patrick and his elder brother, 
William, to set up business for themselves. 

The boys were very proud of their new shop. 
They swept it out and dusted it every morning, and 
put samples of their goods in the window where 
the light streamed through many small panes of 
glass. 



I 2 THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR J '. 



Now, the shop was not in a city nor even in a 
village. It was on the edge of their father's small 
farm. 

For miles around there were large farms or plan- 
tations, each with a fine house where a planter 
lived. About the houses clustered the log cabins 
of the negro slaves. Farther off in the skirts of 
the forest stood the huts of the poor whites. 

The place was rather lonesome for business. 
Sometimes a fine coach stopped at the little shop 
and a pompous planter made a purchase. But the 
rich did not buy much there. They traded at their 
own wharves with the British merchants who came 
in shallops up the river. 

They exchanged bales of tobacco for boxes and 
barrels of goods which they kept in the store-rooms 
of their houses. The slaves did not buy anything, 
for their masters clothed and fed them. It was only 
the small farmers and the poor whites who lived 
from hand to mouth that traded with the Henry 
boys. 

This class of people did not have much money. 
They often paid their bills by making friendly 
visits. They lounged about the shop telling 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK HE XR ) '. 1 3 



Stories, cracking jokes, and quarreling with one 
another. 

Patrick lay on the counter watching them. 
He did not talk much himself, but when he re- 
turned home he amused the rest of the family 
by screwing his face around and changing his 
voice until he looked and spoke like each one of 
his customers. 

As the days went by, the boys found it very tire- 
some waiting for trade. William went sometimes 
behind the shelves to drink from a bottle of rum. 
Patrick never drank rum. When he heard the 
birds calling, he skipped away for a tramp through 
the woods. 

If he chanced to see the tracks of deer, he fol- 
lowed them far into the underbrush. Perhaps he 
returned after several hours to find his brother 
asleep and somebody waiting to buy a penny's 
worth of something. 

Of course, business could not be a success when 
carried on in that way. Before the year was out 
the brothers found their goods ail gone and their 
shop closed up. 

William went more and more to a grog shop, 



H 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRILtC HENRY. 



and became a very worthless fellow indeed. But 
Patrick was kind and gentle in his manners ; he 
played well on the violin and was a great favorite 
with the young people in the neighborhood. 

And so the years passed by, and he grew up to 
be a tall young man, without having learned any 
useful business whereby he might earn a living 
through honest labor. 



III. — The Farm and the Shop. 

Patrick won the love of a bright-eyed little lass 
who had bought many a ha'penny worth of his 
peppermints. He was poor, and so was she; but 
he said by putting their shoulders together they 
might be better able to bear their poverty. 

He was only eighteen, and she was younger 
still; but he said that their ages together m^ade 
over thirty years. That sounded very old indeed! 
And so without a dollar in his pocket Patrick 
Henry married little Sarah Shelton. 

Patrick's father gave him a small patch of land, 
and Sarah's father gave her two or three slaves 
to set up house keeping with. 



THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 1 5 

The tall Virginia boy went into the tobacco 
field with his negroes. He dressed in homespun 
and looked like a farmer; and when the neigh- 
bors rode past, they smilingly said, " That boy 
of John Henry's is finding out how to work." 

Patrick worked hard on week days. When Sun- 
day came, he always went to church. 

Like his father, he was an Episcopalian, but he 
loved so well to hear Mr. Davies preach that he 
attended the Presbyterian church. 

One Sunday in May, 1755, Mr. Davies talked 
about war. 

The country north of the Ohio River belonged to 
the English colonies, yet the French from Canada 
were building forts there to keep the English away. 

King George had sent General Braddock to 
America with an army of grenadiers, and a Vir- 
ginia regiment was marching to join him. 

They would go to the Ohio country and drive 
out the French. 

Patrick wished very much that he might be a 
soldier and help fight for the king. But the wife 
and babies must be fed, and so he toiled on in the 
field with the negroes. 



1 6 THE S TOR ) ■ OF PA TRICK HENR } '. 

One Sunday in August Mr. Davies looked very 
sad when he rose to preach. 

He said tliat news had just come from the Ohio 
country. General Braddock had been killed and 
his army defeated. Many brave Virginia boys lay 
dead on the field of battle. 

Yet. he said, a Virginia officer named George 
Washington, had saved a part of the army. 

"Colonel Washington," said Mr. Davies, "is 
only twenty-three years old. I cannot but hope 
that Providence has preserved the youth in so 
signal a manner for some important service to his 
country." 

"Ah," thought Patrick, "George Washington 
has done so much for his country, and he is only 
twenty-three!" 

He looked down at his hands. They were brown 
and rough with toil. 

" Alas!" he said, "I do my best, and yet I cannot 
even make a living on my little farm! " 

This was quite true. 

Patrick could not make his crops grow. Then 
his house caught fire and burned to the ground. 
It was all very discouraging ! 



THE STOR J ' OF PA TRIL K HENR Y. I J 



He thought, if he tried once more, he might 
succeed as a merchant. So he sold his slaves, 
and with the money which they brought he built 
a house and purchased a small stock of goods. 

That very year the tobacco crop failed. People 
were not able to pay for what they bought. There 
was nothing to do but wait for the next crop. 

Meantime Patrick's shop became the lounging 
place for the whole neighborhood. 

The small planters and overseers dropped in to 
talk about crops. The trappers from beyond the 
Blue Ridge Mountains stopped with their packs 
of furs to tell of the Indians on the fron- 
tiers. 

The ferrymen who paddled the boats across the 
river repeated the latest gossip of the Yankee 
peddlers from New York and Boston and Phila- 
delphia. The sons of the rich planters stopped 
often to talk about horse-racing, cock-fighting, 
and deer-stalking. But more than all else, these 
young fellows talked about the French war in the 
North. 

One day they told of the dashing British ofificers 
who were stopping at Alexandria, and declared 



THF. STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



that red coats and gold lace were turning the 
heads of all the pretty girls. 

Another day they said young Colonel George 
Washington, with a Virginia regiment, had joined 
the British General Forbes, and they were, march- 
ing together to capture the French fort on the 
Ohio River. 

And then, a few weeks later, they hurried in to 
tell how the French fort was taken, and how every- 
body thought that the French would be defeated 
at Quebec. 

Now, all this talking was very exciting! Nobody 
enjoyed it more than Patrick himself. Yet talking 
would not settle bills. The tobacco crop failed a 
second time, and he was obliged to shut up his shop. 

And so, at the age of twenty-three, Patrick 
Henry, with a wife and little children to provide 
for, did njt have a shilling in his pocket. But his 
father helped a little and Sarah's father helped a 
little, and they managed to keep the wolf from 
the door. 

" There is one thing I can say about Patrick," 
said Sarah's father; " he does not swear nor drink, 
nor keep bad company." 



THE STORY OF PA TRIC K HEIS R V. 1 9 

IV. — The License to Practice Law. 

It was just about Christmas time that Patrick 
failed in business. 

There was great merry-making in the neighbor- 
hood; and on Christmas eve, the young people 
were all invited to a party at the house of Colonel 
Dandridge, a rich planter living near the Henrys. 
Thomas Jefferson was one of the guests. 

He was a fine lad, sixteen years old, and was on 
his way to attend William and Mary College at 
Williamsburg. 

When Jefferson was introduced to Patrick Henry, 
he thought him a very rough-looking fellow; but 
he soon found that he was the best fiddler, the 
best story-teller, and the jolliest joker in the 
company. 

When he heard about his misfortunes and saw 
the lonely little shop with its window boarded up 
and its door closed, he said to himself, " It is too 
bad that such a merry soul is so idle and shiftless! " 
He never expected to see the poor merchant 
again. 

A few months later, as Jefterson was sitting in 
his room in Williamsburg, he heard a knock at the 



2 O THE S TOR Y OF PA TRICK HEXR ) '. 

door. Imagine his surprise when, upon opening 
it, he saw Patrick Henry, of Hanover County. 

There he stood, dressed in coarse homespun and 
covered with the dust of his journey. His hair 
hung in tangles about his ears. He looked so 
shabby that the rich young student thought he 
had come to beg. 

When Patrick told him he had come to the city 
to pass an examination to be a lawyer, Jefferson 
smiled and thought he must be joking. But the 
deep-set blue eyes looked very serious under the 
shaggy brow. 

" I am going to try to make a man of myself, 
Tom," he said, " and if I pass with the judges I 
shall let you know." 

A few days later Patrick called again. He was 
much elated as he showed his license to practice 
law in the courts of Virginia. 

" I blundered through the questions with two of 
the judges," he said. " They signed my paper 
just to get rid of me, I think. When I went to the 
third judge, he refused at first even to ask me 
anything. He thought me a greenhorn; I am sure 
of it by the way he looked at me. But I showed. 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HEXR V. 21 

him that the others had signed for me, and then he 
began to put questions. 

"Of course, he asked me a great deal that I knew 
nothing about. I was just thinking to myself that 
he would soon quit in disgust, when he made a 
statement that did not sound like good law. We 
argued the question a long time. I got quite hot 
over my side. 

"At last Judge Randolph said, ' You defend 
your opinion well, sir; but now let us look up the 
law,' He opened one book and then another. 
His face flushed. After a mom.ent of silence he 
exclaimed, ' Here are law books which you have 
never read; yet you are right and I am wrong! 
Mr. Henry, if your industry is only half equal to 
your genius, you will prove an ornament to your 
profession!' " 

Jefferson himself expected to be examined some 
day for the law, and listened eagerly to all that 
Patrick said. And when he had finished, he gave 
him his hand, and told him he wished him success 
and invited him for a walk through the city. 

The two passed down the street together. 

Now, Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia. 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



Here the governor lived and the House of Bur- 
gesses met to make the laws. 

Just as the boys were admiring the governor's 
mansion, with its fine garden of roses, a great 
coach drawn by six milk-white horses drove out at 
the gate. 

The governor sat inside the coach. He smiled, 
and waved his hand at young Thomas Jefferson, 
who doffed his three-cornered hat and bowed most 
gracefully. 

Then many fair ladies smiled upon the rich aiid 
elegant college boy. No doubt, they wondered 
that he walked v/ith such an awkward looking 
fellow; but Thomas Jefferson was pleased with the 
wit of his companion. 

They walked through the park and then stopped 
at the famous Raleigh tavern, where Thomas told 
about the gay times the young folks had in the 
ball-room. " But nobody in Williamsburg plays 
the fiddle so well as you, Patrick," he said. 

They visited the capitol, and went up the broad 
portico into the room where the burgesses met. 
And as they looked down from the lobby upon the 
empty seats below, Jefferson talked about the Vir- 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 



23 



ginia statesmen whom he had seen thereat the last 
session. 

He said that his favorite was Colonel George 
Washington, who had marched with Braddock 
against the Indians and had afterwards captured 
the French fort at the head of the Ohio. 

It was all very interesting to Patrick. He won- 
dered if he should ever meet the famous men who 
sat together on those benches and helped the 
king's officers make laws for the colony of Virginia. 
He was delighted with everything he saw, for he 
had never been in a town before. 

At last he bade good bye to his courteous friend, 
and, mounting his horse, he rode away with his 
lawer's license safe in the saddle bags beneath him. 



V. — The King and His Province. 

It was in 1760 when Patrick Henry got permis- 
sion to be a lawyer. At that time Virginia, like 
most of the other colonies in America, was still a 
province belonging to England. 

The king of England sent over a governor to 



24 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK HENRY. 



rule in his stead. The governor chose a few men 
to advise him about the affairs of the province, 
and when they met together they were called the 
council. 

The people elected delegates, called burgesses, 
who met every year in Williamsburg with the 
council. And when the burgesses and the council 
agreed on any measure for the public good, it 
became the law of the land. 

Sometimes the king himself made laws for his 
provinces, without asking the consent of anybody. 
This did not please the people very well. Yet 
they had always been loyal to their king, whatever 
he did. 

It was said that Virginia was the most loyal of 
all the colonies. But when young George the 
Third came to the throne, the Virginians had 
hardly stopped shouting over his coronation before 
they saw that he would make them a great deal 
of trouble. 

The first complaint was about the salaries of 
the clergymen. Because there was so little coin 
in the country, the people paid their debts in 
paper money, or in tobacco. 



THE ST OR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



25 



The clergy had always been paid in tobacco; but 
one year, when the tobacco crop was poor, the law 
was passed that clergymen should be paid in paper 
money instead of tobacco. This made their salaries 
much smaller than ever before. 

Now, some of the clergy in Virginia were noble 
men, and did a great deal of good, and among 
them was Patrick Henry's own uncle. But 
there were many who were not worthy of the 
name of clergymen. 

They lived in fine houses. They went hunting 
with their hounds across country. They loved 
horse-racing, dice-playing, and wine. They courted 
the rich, and neglected the poor. 

You can guess that such kind of men would not 
like to have their salaries made any less. They 
sent a petition to the king against it. 

The king declared the law void; and then the 
clergymen went into court and sued the tax-col- 
lectors for the full amount of their pay. 

Very few lawyers were willing to oppose the 
clergymen. The king was on their side, and the 
governor favored them, too. 

But when some of the planters in HanoverCounty 



26 THE STOR ) ' OF PA TRICK HEXR V. 

asked young Patrick Henry to take a case against 
the clergymen, he said he would do the best that 
he could. 



VI. — The Parsons' Cause. 

When it was noised about that the " parsons " 
were having a trial in the little brick court-house, 
people hurried in on horse, on foot, and in car- 
riages. There were rich planters in velvet and 
lace, farmers in homespun, and poor whites in 
rags. 

As Patrick watched them from the door of the 
tavern, he was glad that so many of his neighbors 
would hear his speech. He knew that if he won 
this case he would have many others. 

But when he saw his uncle, the clergyman, step 
from his carriage, his courage failed him. He 
hastened to him, and said respectfully: 

" Uncle, I am to try my first important case to- 
day. I shall not be able to speak before you. I 
would be too much embarrassed in your presence. 
Besides, I shall be obliged to say some hard things 
about the clergy." 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK HENRY. 



27 



" Well, Patrick, my boy," said his uncle kindly, 
" it is not I who shall stand in the way of your suc- 
cess. I will go back home. But you would best 
let the clergy alone. You will get the worst of 
It. 

And the good old man returned to the carriage, 
and was driven away. 

Then Patrick saw his father making his way 
through the crowd. He had quite forgotten that 
his father would be the judge at the trial. His 
heart seemed to come into his throat. Yet there 
was no help for him. The people were filling the 
court-room, and the doorway, and all the win- 
dows. 

He squeezed through the packed room. There, 
in front, in a black robe, sat his father on a high 
bench, and before him sat twenty clergymen in 
one long row. And there were the twelve jury- 
men, who should bring in a verdict. It was a 
great moment for the young lawyer. 

When he arose to speak, he looked shabby and 
awkward. His words came slowly. He hesitated 
and almost stopped speaking. The planters hung 
their heads. One whispered, " We should have 



28 THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

known better than to put the case in the hands of 
that shiftless fellow! " 

The clergymen on the bench lifted their eye- 
brows, and winked and nodded to one another, as 
much as to say, " Our case is already won." 

Judge Henry nearly sank from the bench in con- 
fusion at his son's poor speaking. " Ah, Patrick, 
Patrick," he thought, " you have failed on the farm 
and in the shop, and now you are going to fail at 
the law, and the wife and wee bairns at home will 
be wanting for food! " 

But soon Patrick's voice became clear. The 
long, awkward body straightened up. The blue 
eyes flashed. He looked grand and majestic. 

The crowds outside the windows, who had begun 
to laugh and talk, were silent. Those at the door 
leaned eagerly forward to see the speaker. 

He told about the poverty of the people, and 
the taxes they had paid for the war with the 
French. 

He dwelt on the failure of the tobacco crop, and 
on the struggles of the poor farmers to keep their 
families from starving. 

Then he pictured how Christ had fed the poor, 



THE STOR } ' OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 29 



and walked among the weak and the lowly of the 
earth. 

And then, in scorn and anger, he pictured the 
many clergymen of Virginia who lived in fine 
houses, and feasted and drank while they were 
trying to take the last bit of bread from the tables 
of the poor. 

His words were awful to the twenty clergymen. 
They shrank back in dismay. 

Then the young lawyer stood like a lion at bay 
as he talked of the rights of the people. 

He said the king of England had given the pro- 
vince of Virginia the right to make its own laws 
about the taxes. The House of Burgesses had 
passed a law providing for the use of paper instead 
of tobacco in payment of the clergy. This law, he 
said, was made to protect the poor from the oppres- 
sions of the rich. 

His voice rang out clear and strong, and his 
eyes flashed strangely as he said that even a king 
had not the right to declare void a law made by the 
people. 

" When a king becomes a tyrant," he cried, " he 
forfeits all right to obedience! " 



30 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENRY. 



Some who heard him looked frightened at such 
bold words. But as the speech went on, Patrick 
became more and more eloquent. He won the 
hearts of all. His father, the judge, forgot where 
he was, and tears streamed down his cheeks. 

When the last words were uttered, the twelve 
jurymen went out. They soon brought back the 
verdict of one penny damages! 

The clergymen had hoped to obtain several hun- 
dred dollars. They had lost their case, and they 
fled in anger and disappointment from the court- 
room. But the planters shouted the name of their 
young lawyer. They bore him out on their shoul- 
ders and set him down in the yard where all might 
shake his hand. 

And, for many years in Hanover County, if any 
one chanced to make a fine speech, the highest 
praise he could receive was that he was " almost 
equal to Patrick when he pleaded against the 
parsons." 

VII. — The Stamp Act. 

After his victory over the clergymen, Patrick 
Henry had all the business he could attend to. 



THE ST OR Y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 3 1 

Whoever got into trouble hastened to ask the 
young lawyer to help him get out of it. 

His fees increased. He soon became so rich 
that he loaned money to his father, and then he 
loaned to Sarah's father. 

He could not throw off his old habits at once. 
He still loved to hunt and to fish. Sometimes he 
was away in the forest whole days at a time. 

Sometimes he came into the court-room with his 
gun in his hand and his buckskin clothes red with 
the blood of the deer he had killed, But he 
studied hard and read a great deal of history, and 
talked much with the people as he traveled about 
from court to court. 

Now just at that very time there was good reason 
for talking. The king and his Parliament were 
beginning to make trouble. They saw the colonies 
getting richer and richer. 

Ship after ship came over the sea laden with furs, 
wheat, tobacco, and rice from America. Even cot- 
ton was beginning to be profitable. 

" Those colonies across the sea shall be taxed," 
said the king. 

So Parliament, with the king's advice, made a 



32 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



law that required all legal papers in America to be 
stamped. If a man made a deed of his farm, or 
wrote out a will on his death bed, or got a license 
to marry, he had to use stamped paper bought in 
England. The price to be paid for the paper was 
much greater than the cost of it, and thus a large 
tax might be collected. 

The Americans said that they alone had the 
right to vote a tax. They were willing to vote 
for a tax, but Parliament should not do it for 
them. 

Almost all the colonies sent petitions to the king 
against the Stamp Act. The province of Virginia 
sent a petition signed by George Washington and 
many others. But the king gave no answer. 
What should be done ? 

If the tax were paid once, it would have to be 
paid twice. 

" We must tight the law," said someone. 

" But most of the burgesses are the mere tools of 
the king," said another; "let us elect Patrick 
Henry a burgess. He is bold and will defend our 
rights." 

And so it came about that Patrick Henry was 



THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



33 



sent to the House of Burgesses to speak for the 
people of his county against the oppressions of 
the king and his ParHament. 



VIII. — In the House of Burgesses. 

It was a fine day in May when Patrick Henry 
came into WilHamsburg to sit in the House of 
Burgesses. 

No one paid the least attention to the young 
man in homespun as he rode along on his lean 
horse. There was too much else to think about. 

The king had not listened to any petitions. The 
Stamp Act had become a law, and everybody on 
the streets was wondering what the burgesses 
would do. 

When the House assembled, some of the 
burgesses said there should be nothing done until 
the other colonies were heard from. 

Others said that, because the Stamp Act was now 
a law, it was best to obey it. And then the most of 
them sank back in their seats as if the question 
were settled. 



34 THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



But Patrick Henry rose to his feet. He looked 
very tall and awkward. He held in his hand the 
yellow leaf of an old law book, on which he had 
written some resolutions. 

These resolutions declared that if a law was 
unjust it should be opposed; that the Virgini- 
ans had a charter from the king granting the 
rights of English subjects; that English subjects 
had the right to tax themselves, and so the 
Virginians had that right; and that whoever 
claimed that Parliament could tax the Virginians 
without their consent was an enemy to the col- 
ony! 

Those were very bold words to use about a 
law made by the king! 

The most timid of the burgesses fairly trembled 
with fear as they listened. 

Then Patrick Henry made a great speech. 
Nothing like it had ever been heard in Wil- 
liamsburg. 

It was all against the unjust tax, and he closed it 
with flashing eye, saying: "Caesar had his Brutus, 
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the 
Third"— 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 



35 



"Treason! treason! " shouted the friends of the 
king. 

" And George the Third," he repeated, " may 
profit by their example — If that be treason, make 
the most 0/ it!" he cried in tones that echoed 
through the hall. 

Thomas Jefferson, the law student, who was 
in the lobby, almost cheered aloud when he 
heard the brave words. 

George Washington, who sat with the burgesses, 
nodded his head; and so many others believed 
what Patrick Henry had said that the bold resolu- 
tions were adopted. 

From that day Patrick Henry, the most elo- 
quent man in Hanover County, was called the 
most eloquent man in Virginia. 



IX. — The Continental Congress. 

The Virginia resolutions against the Stamp 
Tax were carried to the colonies in the North. 
They were published in New England and 
scattered all over the country. 



36 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



The governor of Massachusetts wrote to the 
king's council: "I thought that the Americans 
would submit to the Stamp Act. But the Virginia 
resolves have proved an alarm bell," 

And General Gage, the commander of the 
British forces, wrote from New York: "The Vir- 
ginia resolves have given the signal for a general 
outcry all over the continent." 

People now began to speak out more boldly. 
The Virginians declared they would not wear 
clothes bought in England until the tax was 
removed. 

And when the rich planters went about clad in 
homespun, Patrick Henry looked quite as well as 
the best of them, and he talked much better than 
any. 

After a time the king abolished the stamp 
tax, but he straightway put a tax on tea. 
Now, taxed tea was just as bad as taxed paper. 
People said they would not drink tea. And soon 
a swift courier rode into Williamsburg, saying that 
Boston had thrown the tea chests of the British 
merchants into the harbor. 

Then another came in haste saying, that the king 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



37 



had shut up the port of Boston. The British gen- 
eral would not even allow a little shallop to enter 
the bay, and he kept his soldiers standing in the 
streets of the city with their bayonets fixed. 

When the House of Burgesses met and ordered 
a day of fasting and prayer for the trouble that 
had come upon Boston, Patrick Henry spoke more 
boldly than ever against the tyranny of the king. 

Governor Dunmore ordered the burgesses to 
separate. They hurried to meet again at Raleigh 
Tavern. Here they appointed a committee to write 
to the other colonies about what should be done. 
There was much writing back and forth between 
the North and the South. 

Many said there should be a convention to form 
a union of the colonies. But, in our forefathers' 
day, as in our own, there were some men who did 
not believe in experiments. 

A member of the South Carolina legislature 
laughed at the idea of a convention: " What kind 
of a dish will a congress from the different British 
colonies make?" he said. " New England will 
throw in fish and onions, the Middle States flax- 
seed and flour, Maryland and Virginia will add 



38 THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

tobacco, North Carolina pitch, tar, and turpentine, 
South CaroHna rice and indigo, and Georgia will 
sprinkle the whole composition with sawdust. That 
is about the kind of a jumble you will make if you 
attempt a union between the thirteen British pro- 
vinces." 

But another member retorted: "I would not 
choose the gentleman who made these objections 
for my cook, but I venture to say that, if the 
colonies proceed to appoint deputies to a Conti- 
nental Congress, they will prepare a dish fit to be 
presented to any crowned head in Europe." 

At last the colonies agreed to choose delegates 
to meet in convention at Philadelphia. 

The Virginians chose Peyton Randolph a dele- 
gate for his dignity, George Washington for his 
military knowledge, Richard Henry Lee and 
Patrick Henry for their eloquence, Edmund Pen- 
dleton for his knowledge of law, Richard Bland for 
his skill in writing, and Benjamin Harrison for 
his popularity with the planters. 

And so we see that Patrick Henry was chosen 
with the richest men in Virginia to go to Phila- 
delphia to attend the first Continental Congress. 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENRY. 



39 



The young lawyer was very busy for several 
weeks getting his affairs in order before starting 
on so long a journey. 



X. — The Speech in Carpenters' Hall. 

On a hot day in August, 1774, Patrick Henry 
and Edmund Pendleton set out for Philadelphia. 
They traveled on horseback over a bridle path 
through the forest, and swam all the streams. 

At length they came to Mount Vernon, where 
Colonel Washington lived. Here they passed 
the night, and the following morning, after an 
early breakfast, Washington mounted his horse to 
go with them to Congress. 

As the two guests, with their three-cornered 
hats in their hands, were bowing low to Martha 
Washington, she said, " I hope you will both stand 
firm. I know George will." 

And you may be sure they started off more de- 
termined than ever to demand justice of the king. 

They soon crossed the Potomac at the Falls, and 
then followed the path toward Baltimore. They 



40 THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 

were a noble group of men. Edmund Pendleton 
was much the oldest. His hair was gray and his 
face was earnest. 

George Washington was in the prime of man- 
hood. He sat his horse like a true cavalier, and in 
the uniform of a British colonel he looked like a 
soldier. 

Patrick Henry was thirty-eight years old. The 
great orator stooped forward as he rode, and his 
clothes hung loosely about him. He was not very 
handsome, but when he spoke his face lighted up, 
and you would have said he was almost beautiful. 

They talked very earnestly over the troubles 
with the king, and all three agreed that a crisis 
had come. They reached Philadelphia just in time 
for the convention; and so they did not become 
acquainted with many of the members from the 
other colonies before the meeting began. 

After the delegates had assembled in a large 
brick building, called Carpenters' Hall, the roll 
was read and officers were elected. Then the 
place became very still. The delegates were 
almost all strangers to one another. Each feared to 
say anything lest he might offend some one else. 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK IIE.XRY. 



41 



At last a member moved to open the conven- 
tion with prayer. John jay, of New York, hurried 
to oppose the motion. " No man," he said, " can 
expect Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregational- 
ists, Episcopalians, Quakers, and Catholics to 
unite in worship." 

But Samuel Adams, from "stiff-necked" Massa- 
chusetts, arose and said: " I, for my part, am no 
bigot. I can listen to a prayer from a gentle- 
man of piety who is a patriot. I have heard 
that the reverend Mr. Duch^, an Episcopalian, 
deserves that title: therefore, Mr. President, I 
move that Mr. Duche read prayers to-morrow 
morning." 

The motion was carried. And then again the 
place became very still. Each man had the same 
complaints to make against the king, yet no one 
liked to speak of them. 

The silence became so intense that some said 
afterwards they could hear their hearts beat. 

At last a tall young man arose. Everybody turned 
about to look at him. He was dressed in dark 
grey homespun, his wig was unpowdered, and 
his sleeves had no frills. 



42 THE STORY OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

He began very calmly to state why they had met 
together. But soon his voice swelled, his form 
became erect, his eyes glowed. All leaned for- 
ward to read his wonderful face. He closed with 
the words : " The distinctions between Virginians, 
Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New England- 
ers are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an 
American!" 

The delegates were amazed at his eloquence. 

" Who is he? who is he?" they cried. 

It was Patrick Henry, and from that day the best 
orator in Virginia was known as the best orator in 
America. He argued with the rest of the dele- 
gates not to import any more goods from England 
nor to export them to England until Parliament 
should respect the rights of Americans. 

Henry spoke many times during the Congress; 
and when it was decided to appeal again to the 
king to allow the colonies to vote their own taxes, 
he was one of the committee chosen to write the 
petition. 

Soon after this the first Continental Congress 
adjourned to meet when the king should send his 
reply. 



THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 43 



XI. — Taking up Arms against the King. 

When Henry reached home, the neighbors 
crowded around him, asking many questions about 
the city of Philadelphia and the people whom he 
had met there. 

" Who was the greatest man there?" asked one. 

"Always excepting yourself, Patrick," shouted 
another, laughing, " I'll warrant you were the great- 
est of all! " 

Henry told them about the city that William 
Penn had built, and about the famous men who 
were at the congress. 

There was Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, who 
"never said a foolish thing in his life." There was 
Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, whose " head was 
wanted badly in England;" and his cousin John 
Adams, who " had forty towns in the Bay Colony 

at his back." 

There was John Rutledge, of South Carolina, 
who was " by far the greatest orator of them all," 
with his brother Edward, who had learned fine 
manners at the court of the king, but had become 
a patriot while listening to the debates in Parlia- 
ment on the tea tax. 



44 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



There was Philip Livingston, of New York, whose 
letters to Edmund Burke had won that great 
English orator to the American cause; and there 
was John Jay, whose "pen was the finest in 
America." 

"Of course, you know all about our own men," 
he said. "Everybody made much of Richard Henry 
Lee, for they had heard how he made a bonfire of 
the stamps ; and Peyton Randolph was elected 
chairman of the convention. But for solid infor- 
mation and sound judgment," said Henry, "Colonel 
Washington was the greatest man in the Congress." 

Now, the king gave no heed to the petition of 
Congress. He sent over a fleet of ships and an 
army to aid General Gage in making war on the 
colonies if they would not obey the law. 

The second Virginia convention met in St. John's 
church, in Richmond, on the 2nd of March, 1775. 

Patrick Henry moved in a convention that Vir- 
ginia be put in a state of defence. 

Many opposed doing this. They said it was the 
duty of every man to obey the king. 

And so the Virginians were divided in opinion. 
Those who were loyal to the king were called 



THE STOR y Of PA TRICK HENR Y. 



45 







46 THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR V. 

tories, and those who refused to obey his unjust 
laws were called whigs, 

Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas 
Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and many others 
were whigs ; but there were also many powerful 
men who were tories. When the tories opposed 
the motion to defend the colony, Patrick Henry 
made a wonderful speech. 

" We must fight," he said. " An appeal to arms 
and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us. They 
tell us, sir, that we are weak! But when shall we 
be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next 
year? Will it be when a British guard shall be 
stationed in every house? 

" Sir, we are not weak. Three millions of people 
armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a 
country as that which we possess, are invincible by 
any force which our enemy can send against us. 

" Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. 
There is a just God who presides over the destinies 
of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight 
our battles for us. 

" Gentlemen, we may cry peace! peace! but there 
is no peace. The next gale that sweeps from the 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



47 



north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding 
arms. Our brethren in Boston are already in the 
field. Why stand we here idle? 

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be pur- 
chased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid 
it, Almighty God! I know not what course others 
may take, but, as for me, give me liberty or give 
me death! " 

The faces of all were pale. The tories were 
quaking with fear at the thought of having taken 
part in such a meeting. 

But Lee and Jefferson spoke in favor of arming 
the colony, and Washington nodded his head, 
though he said nothing. 

In the end it was voted to take up arms against 
the king's troops. 

Meanwhile, the battles of Concord and Lexing- 
ton were fought, near Boston. About the same 
time Governor Dunmore seized the powder at 
Williamsburg and sent it on board a British ship. 

The whigs armed themselves. They rallied 
about Patrick Henry, and set out for Williams- 
burg to demand the powder. 

Tories along the march begged Henry not to 



48 THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

plunge the colony into a war with the governor. 
But he pushed on his way, and the whigs joined 
the ranks, until over five hundred were in line. 

Governor Dunmore fled from the city. Very 
soon after, however, he sent a promise to pay for 
the powder he had carried away. 

Then Patrick Henry disbanded the army and 
started for Philadelphia to attend the second Con- 
tinental Congress. His friends, fearing the 
governor might have him arrested, mounted their 
horses and rode with him to the Potomac River. 
As he was ferried across to the Maryland side, 
they gave cheer after cheer and wished him 
success on his journey. 



XII. — The Declaration of Independence. 

When Henry arrived at Philadelphia, the Con- 
gress was already in session. 

One of the new delegates was Benjamin Franklin, 
of Pennsylvania, who had just returned from Lon- 
don and knew all about the king and his Parliament. 

Another new delegate was John Hancock, of 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK HENRY. 



49 



Massachusetts, who told of the battles of Concord 
and Lexington, 

The very day that Henry took his seat news 
came from the north that Colonel Ethan Allen had 
captured Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, with a 
large amount of arms and ammunition. 

It was decided that the colonies must be put in a 
state of defence. 

There was much to be done. Ships were to be 
built, cities on the coast to be fortified, treaties 
made with the Indians, and more appeals sent in to 
the king. It was agreed to raise troops from all 
the colonies, and George Washington was made 
commander-in-chief of the colonial army. 

Patrick Henry was glad that his friend had been 
honored with such a high office. 

Yet he knew that it was a great risk to head a 
rebellion against the king. 

Washington knew this, too. He wanted to be 
loyal to the king, but he felt he must fight for the 
rights belonging to all English subjects. 

His eyes were full of tears as he clasped Henry 
by the hand and said: " I fear this day will begin 
the decline of my reputation." 



5 O THE STORY OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



He soon left Philadelphia to take command of 
the American troops at Cambridge. 

When Congress was adjourned, Henry and 
the other delegates from Virginia returned home 
to meet in a convention. 

The governor had fled to a British ship, and so 
a committee was appointed to rule in his stead. 
Then it was decided to raise troops in the colony, 
and Patrick Henry was made commander-in- 
chief. 

Soldiers hurried from every county in Virginia 
to the camping ground at Williamsburg. There 
were trappers in buckskin, and hunters in green 
shirts, and rich planters in fine uniforms. There 
was the sound of fife and drum, and banners were 
seen everywhere. Governor Dunmore called the 
whigs rebels, and summoned tories, negroes, and 
Spaniards to fight them. 

But before the troops came to battle, Patrick 
Henry resigned command. He was needed in the 
colonial convention at Williamsburg. 

The convention met on the 6th of May, 1776. 

Among the new delegates was James Madison. 
He was just twenty-five years old. He was a great 



THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



51 



scholar, but he was so shy that he did not attract 
much attention in his first debate. 

Another new delegate was Edmund Randolph. 
He was twenty-three years old. His father was a 
tory, and had sailed away to England, but young 
Randolph remained in America to help fight for 
liberty. 

James Madison and Edmund Randolph listened 
with delight to Patrick Henry's speeches. 

They said he seemed like a pillar of fire, which 
was leading the convention through the night of 
despair. 

When the orator proposed that the colonies 
should declare themselves free from Great Britain, 
most of the delegates were convinced that this was 
the only thing to do. 

And so, on the 15th of May, the Virginians 
resolved to instruct their delegates in Congress 
at Philadelphia to propose a declaration of inde- 
pendence. 

The British flag was taken down from the 
staff on the capitol, and a Continental flag was 
hoisted with thirteen bars for the thirteen colo- 
nies. 



5 2 THE S TOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 



Then Patrick Henry and some others wrote out 
a constitution for the state of Virginia. 

You know that every state in these days has a 
written constitution, but in those days most of the 
states had charters granted by the king. 

It was agreed that Virginia should have a Senate 
and a House of Representatives to make the laws 
which the people wanted, a governor who should 
enforce the laws, and judges who should preside in 
the courts. 

The constitution of Virginia seemed so wise that 
it became a model for the other states. 

On June 7th, Richard Henry Lee, one of the 
Virginia delegates, offered the resolution in Con- 
gress that the " United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states." 

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and after a long debate it was signed on 
the 4th of July, 1776. 

And when the news reached Williamsburg, bells 
rang, bonfires blazed in the streets, and powder 
sizzed and spluttered in the gutters. It was 
the very first Fourth of July celebration in Vir- 
ginia. 



THE SrOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 53 



XIII. — The First Governor of the State of 
Virginia. 

The Declaration of Independence was read from 
the steps of the governor's mansion at Williams- 
burg. Now, who do you think was governor? It 
was Patrick Henry. He had been elected before 
the news of the great event had reached Virginia. 
There he was in the mansion of the king's gov- 
ernors. He had won the first place in the state by 
his own merit. 

His father and his wife, who had helped him in 
all the struggles on the farm and in the shop, were 
dead. But his aged mother, whom he loved very 
tenderly, was living to see his success. 

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and 
other whig friends wrote him beautiful letters of 
greeting in his new office. 

But the tories laughed when they heard that 
Patrick Henry was elected governor. " A pretty 
governor he will make," they said, " with his buck- 
skin breeches and homespun coat ! " 

But Governor Henry wished to represent the 
people as well as Lord Dunmore had represented 
the king. He wore a powdered wig and black 



54 THE S TOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR W 

velvet clothes, and long silk hose, and shoes with 
silver buckles, and in cold weather he wore an 
ample scarlet coat. 

He did not walk the streets with his dog and gun 
any more, but rode in a carriage drawn by four 
horses, and saluted the people as gracefully as the 
king's governors had done. The people were very 
proud of their governor, and he was so kind and 
gentle that everybody loved him. 

After a time he married the beautiful grand- 
daughter of Alexander Spotswood, who had once 
been the king's governor of Virginia. This made 
the rich planters respect him more than ever. 

There was much for Governor Henry to do. 
The tories were plotting mischief in the state, and 
the war in the North was raging. 

General Washington wrote again and again to 
Governor Henry, asking him to send more men 
and more supplies, and he always sent them when 
he could. 

In October, 1777, when the British General Bur- 
goyne surrendered to the American army at 
Saratoga, New York, he said the Virginia regi- 
ment was the finest in the world. 



THE STOR Y OP PA TRICK HENR Y. 55 



But about that very time Washington, the pride 
of all the regiments, was defeated on the Brandy- 
wine, in Delaware. No one grieved over this mis- 
fortune more than Governor Henry. He hurried 
to send food and clothing to Washington's army. 

Then he sent George Rogers Clark with a regi- 
ment to the far West to capture the forts held by the 
British north of the Ohio River. The Indians were 
awed and the forts were taken from the British. 

If this expedition had failed, the country which 
makes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wis- 
consin, Michigan, and a part of Minnesota might 
to-day belong to Canada. And so these states 
have much for which to remember Patrick Henry. 

Now, according to law, a governor might only 
be elected three times in succession. When 
Henry's third term had expired, Thomas Jefferson 
was elected governor, and the great orator retired 
to his estate among the Blue Ridge Mountains. 



XIV. — The Close of the War. 

It is quite certain that Patrick Henry would 
have strapped on his knapsack to fight for his 



56 THE STOR V OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

country if he had not been needed to help make 
the laws. He was elected to the legislature to 
help provide means to carry on the war. 

The British armies had failed in the North. 
So they came marching into Virginia to cap- 
ture the South. They burned and plundered the 
towns on the coast. The people fled to the moun- 
tains. 

The legislature kept moving from one place to 
another tor safety. 

One day the British General Tarleton was hur- 
rying with his troopers to arrest the lawmakers. A 
Virginian captain, who saw him from the window 
of a tavern, mounted his horse and rode by the 
shortest way to Charlottesville. He burst into the 
room w^here the legislature sat, crying, " Tarleton 
is coming! " 

There was a rush for three-cornered hats. The 
lawmakers decided, as they ran, to meet at Staun- 
ton, beyond the mountains. 

They mounted their horses and fled in different 
directions. 

It is said that as Patrick tienry, Benjamin Har- 
rison, Judge Tyler, and Colonel Christian were 



THE SrOA y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 57 



hurrying along, they saw a little hut in the forest. 
An old woman was chopping wood by the door. 
The men were very hungry, and stopped to ask 
her for food. 

"Who are you?" she asked. 

" We are members of the legislature," said 
Patrick Henry; "we have just been compelled to 
leave Charlottesville on account of the British." 

" Ride on, then, ye cowardly knaves! "' she said 
in wrath. " Here are my husband and sons just 
gone to Charlottesville to fight for ye, and you 
running away with all your might. Clear out! 
Ye shall have nothing here." 

"But," replied Mr. Henry, "we were obliged 
to flee. It would not do for the legislature to be 
broken up by the enemy. Here is Mr. Benjamin 
Harrison; you don't think he would have fled had 
it not been necessary?" 

" I always thought a great deal of Mr. Harrison 
till now, ' answered the old woman, " but he'd 
no business to run from the enemy.' And she 
started to shut the door in their faces. 

" Wait a moment, my good woman," cried Mr. 
Henry; " would you believe that Judge Tyler 



58 THE S TOR } " OF PA TRICK ///-.VR ) '. 

or Colonel Christian would take to flight if there 
were not good cause for so doing?" 

" No, indeed, that I wouldn't," 

" But," he said, " Judge Tyler and Colonel Chris- 
tian are here." 

" They are? Well, I would never have thought 
it. I didn't suppose they would ever run away 
from the British; but since they have, they shall 
have nothing to eat in my house. You may ride 
along." 

Things were getting desperate. Then Judge 
Tyler stepped forward: " What would you say, my 
good woman, if I were to tell you that Patrick 
Henry fled with the rest of us? " 

" Patrick Henry! " she answered angrily, " I 
should tell you there wasn't a word of truth in 
it! Patrick Henry would never do such a cow- 
ardly thing." 

" But this is Patrick Henry," said Judge Tyler. 

The old woman was astonished; but she stam- 
mered and pulled at her apron string, and said: 
"Well, if that's Patrick Henry, it must be all 
right. Come in, and ye shall have the best I have 
in the house." Even this ignorant woman in 



Tin: s TOR ) ■ or fa trick henr y. 59 

the woods had heard of the courage and patriot- 
ism of Patrick Henry. 

The legislature met again at last, and took meas- 
ures to collect soldiers and supply food, clothing, 
and arms to fight the British. 

The next year Washington himself came down 
from New York, and a French fleet, sent over by 
King Louis the Sixteenth of France, entered 
Chesapeake Bay. Lord Cornwallis, the British 
general, was hemmed in on all sides. He surren- 
dered his army ; and soon the British soldiers and 
many tories sailed away and left the American 
colonies to govern themselves. 

Three years later General Washington and Mar- 
quis de Lafayette visited Virginia. The state wished 
to do great honor to the commander-in-chief of the 
American armies and to the young French noble- 
man, who had fought for liberty. And so Patrick 
Henry was chosen to make a speech of welcome. 

The French general did not understand the 
English language very well; but when he saw the 
glowing eyes and the speaking face, and heard the 
rich tones of the orator's voice, he said Mr. Henry 
was a wonderful man. 



6o THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

XV. — The Constitution of the United States. 

The very next day after this great speech of 
welcome to Washington and Lafayette, Patrick 
Henry became governor of Virginia again. There 
were many grave questions to be solved. What 
should be done with the tories? That was one of 
the questions. 

" Tar and feather them! " cried some. 

*' Welcome them and all other subjects of Great 
Britain," cried Governor Henry. " The tories 
were mistaken, but the quarrel is over. We have 
peace again. Let us lay aside prejudice. These 
people who sided with the king are intelligent 
and industrious. We need men and women 
to help make a strong nation. Let all come who 
will." 

When some wanted to keep English ships out of 
the harbors, that the French and other friendly 
nations might trade more with us, Governor 
Henry said: " No! Why should we fetter com- 
merce? Let her be free as the air, and she will 
return on the wings of the four winds of heaven to 
bless our land with plenty." 

Thus the great man pleaded liberty for all. 



THE STORY OF PA TRICK HE.XRY. 6 1 

After serving faithfully for two years as governor, 
he began again to practice law in the courts. 

The soldiers of the Revolution had been paid in 
promises on paper by the Continental Congress. 
They needed money so badly that they could not 
wait for Congress to pay, and sold the promises at 
low prices to speculators. 

When Patrick Henry favored the passage of a 
bill in the legislature to prevent the sale of the 
paper at such low prices, one of the speculators 
was so influenced by his eloquence that he 
exclaimed, " That bill ought to pass! " although its 
passage would spoil his own profits. 

Now, since the war with England was over, it was 
clearly seen that the United States of America 
could not make a good government without a 
more permanent union. There was no president. 
Congress was disbanding. Soon there would be 
no government at all. 

The colonies agreed to hold a convention at 
Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confedera- 
tion which had kept them together during the war. 

Patrick Henry was appointed a delegate, with 
George Washington, James Madison, and others; 



62 THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HE.WRV. 



but his health was too poor for him to take the 
long journey. 

The convention at Philadelphia adopted the 
Constitution of the United States as we have it 
to-day, without the amendments. 

Eight States soon agreed to the Constitution. 
Would Virginia ratify it? Everybody said that 
New York and the rest of the states would act 
with Virginia. 

General Washington sent Patrick Henry a copy 
of the Constitution, and urged him to persuade the 
people to adopt it. 

Now, we have seen that, when the king was 
oppressing the colonies with taxes, Patrick Henry 
was one of the first to propose a union. But he 
thought the new plan of government gave too 
much power to Congress and the president. He 
said there should be amendments to the Constitu- 
tion, so that the states might have more free- 
dom. 

No one had ever known a government without a 
king, and it was very difficult to suit everybody. 

There was a long debate in a convention at 
Richmond. All the other colonies watched eagerly 



THE STOR y OF PA TRICK HF.NR Y. 63 

to see if Virginia would agree to the new plan of 
union. Mr. Henry urged the amendments. 

At last the Constitution of the United States was 
ratified by Virginia, with the recommendation that 
amendments should be adopted when they seemed 
necessary. And some of the very amendments 
proposed by Patrick Henry were afterwards 
adopted by Congress. 

To-day the Constitution has fifteen amendments, 
which have helped to make our government the 
best in the world. 



XVI.— "The Sun Has Set in All Hls Glory." 

After the Constitutional Convention at Rich- 
mond, Patrick Henry continued to practice law in 
the courts. 

He rode from place to place on horseback or in 
an old gig; and at the taverns where he stopped he 
was always surrounded by an admiring crowd. 

Wealth came. He bought many plantations and 
prospered greatly. 

Then, as the years bent his shoulders and 



64 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 



wrinkled his high brow, he retired to the quiet of 
an estate, called Red Hill, on the Staunton River. 

The hospitable house stood on a slight rise of 
ground, surrounded by groves of oak, pine, and 
walnut trees. 

Below it stretched the green valley, with its 
winding stream and gently sloping hills. In the 
distance towered the lofty peaks of the Blue 
Ridge. 

In full view of this beautiful scene, the noble 
man sat often in a great armchair under the shade 
of a spreading walnut tree, or walked from grove 
to grove as he talked with himself. No one inter- 
rupted him then; but when the hour of solitude was 
over his grandchildren gathered around with a 
shout. 

There were frolics on the grass, where the silver- 
haired grandfather was the noisiest of the merry- 
makers. And he often told stories, while the little 
ones listened with breathless attention, or he made 
his violin mimic the birds, while the joyous band 
about him vied at guessing which songster was a 
prisoner in the instrument. 

Nothing tempted the great orator from this 



THE STOR V OF PA I RICK HENR Y. 65 

delightful retreat of his old age. Virginia elected 
him governor for a sixth term, but he firmly 
refused the honor. His friend Washington, who 
had become President of the United States, asked 
him to be Minister to Spain, and then he asked him 
to be Secretary of State, and then to be Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court ; but he would 
listen to no offers of high place. 

When John Adams became President, he urged 
Mr. Henry to go as an envoy to France, but he 
refused. The years lay heavy on his shoulders 
because of ill-health. Besides, he had won laurels 
enough. 

In January, 1799, a letter came from Mount Ver- 
non, marked " Confidentiaiy It was in the hand- 
writing of George Washington. 

Just at this time several states claimed the right 
to declare void some laws made by Congress. The 
laws were not wise, and many in Virginia said it 
was the duty of the legislature to refuse to obey 
them. 

Washington implored Patrick Henry to speak in 
defence of the government of the United States. 

Now, the great orator did not like the laws very 



66 THE S TOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR Y. 

well himself ; but he said, when an Act of Congress 
became a law, it was the duty of every citizen to 
obey it. He agreed to tell the people what he 
thought about it. 

It had been many years since Patrick Henry had 
spoken in public; and when it was noised around 
that he would speak at Charlottesville court-house, 
people flocked in from all over the country to hear 
him. 

The college in the next county closed for a 
holiday, and president, professors and students 
hurried to find standing room in the court-house. 

Before the hour for the meeting, such crowds 
followed the orator about that a clergyman said> 
to rebuke them: " Mr. Henry is not a god! " 

" No," said Mr. Henry, who was deeply moved 
because the people were so devoted to him; "no, 
indeed, my friends, I am but a poor w^orm of the 
dust." 

When the great orator arose to speak, he seemed 
stooped with age. His face was pale and care- 
worn. 

At first his voice was cracked and shrill, and 
his gestures were feeble; but soon his bowed 



THE STOR Y OF PA TRICK HENR V. 67 



head became erect, his blue eyes glowed, his 
features looked like those of a young man, his 
voice rang out like music to the farthest listener 
of the thousands standing in the courtyard. 

He told them they had planted thorns in his 
pillow, and that he could not sleep while Virginia 
was a rebel to the government of the United 
States. The Virginians had dared to pronounce 
the laws of Congress without force. Only the 
Supreme Court of the United States had the right 
to do that. 

He said they would drive the United States 
government to arms against them to enforce her 
rightful authority; and, because they were too 
weak alone, the Virginians would call in the Span- 
iards, or the French, or the English, from over 
the sea, to help them fight against the government 
of the United States, and then these foreign 
powers would make them slaves. 

He asked if Charlotte County had the right to 
defy the laws of Virginia. Then he showed them 
how Virginia belonged to the United States, just 
as Charlotte County belonged to Virginia. 

" Let us preserve our strength united," he said, 



68 THB STOR Y OF PA TRICK HESR Y. 

" against whatever foreign nation may dare to enter 
our territory." 

The vast multitude hung on each word and 
look. When he had finished his magnificent 
speech, he was very weak; and as he was carried 
into the tavern near by, some one said, " The sun 
has set in all his glory." 

He returned to his home. A few weeks later, 
while sitting in his chair, he died. 

Just before the end came, he prayed aloud in a 
clear voice for his family and for his country- 
When he breathed for the last time, his old family 
physician left his side to throw himself down under 
the trees and sob aloud. And everybody who 
had known the brave, generous, and gifted Patrick 
Henry grieved over his loss. 

A marble slab covers his grave, inscribed with 
the name, the birth, and the death, and the words: 
" His fame is his best epitaph." 

Before the year closed, George Washington died 
also, and there was mourning throughout the 
land for these two great patriots, who had done so 
much for Virginia and for the young republic of 
the United States. 



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